Morning journal and courier., 1887-10-29
THE CONDEMNED ANARCHISTS.
Butler Makes His Effort to Save ThefT
 Necks.

Butler Makes His Effort to Save ThefF
 Necks.
 WAsH1NGToN, Oct. 29.-When the Supreme court opened at noon to-day Attorney Gene ral Hunt of Illinois stated.that heshad practi- cally finished his argument against granting writ of error in the case of the condemned Anarchists when the court adjourned yester- day and would not resume to day, but would give way to MT. Grinnell. MT. Grinnell spoke forty-ive minutes, dwelling at great length upon the composition of the jury. At the conclusion of MT. Grinnell's remarks General Benjamin F. Butler began his argu- ment After reviewing the circumstances of the tragedy in the Haymarket in Chicago and the trial of the prisoners, ,and contending as MT. Tucker did yesterday that the petition CTS had been deprived of the privileges and
 immunities of American citizenship as guaranteed by the fourteenth amendment, General Butler proceeded to a consideration of the special and peculiar questions raised by the cases of Fielden and Spies, who are foreigners. He contended that treaties were the supreme law of the land and that these prisoners were entitled by virtue of treaties with Germany and Great Britain to all the rights and Erivileges of American citizens at the time such treaties were made. A State had no power to try these men by one of it's own laws, which was not the law of the land at the time the treaties were ratified. He did not mean, he said, that 8 foreigner could come into State and break it's laws with impunity and that the State could not touch him. But he did mean that the State could only try him in accordance with the law Of the land, the whole land at the time the treaty with his government was made. This he said was an important question to every American citizen because in return for the concessions made by the government in the | treaty with Great Britain the government of that country had made similar concessions to ! us Suppose that citizen of the United States should go to Ireland and should make some remarks about the advantages of re- publican form of government and should be arrested=and tried by the crimes act in viola say that this man must be tried by fair and 1 impartial jury. He must be tried as an Englishman would have been tried at the time the treaty was made and that he cannot be dealt with in more summary way under later law. If this l should happen, General Butler said, he l hoped the English authorities would not be | able to hold up to him decision of the
 United States Supreme court sustaining the ! right to try an Englishman by the local law of State which was nothing but 6 swamp and bowling wilderness at the time the treaty was ratified. General Butler finished
 speaking at 3:45 pm.
 The chief justice called lease No. 59," the next case on the docket, the clerk answered
 ready" and the hearing of the motion of
 the Anarchists for writ of error was over.
 It seems to be the general impression among
 those who have paid the closest attention to
 the proceedings in this case that counsel for
 the State had the best of the argument and ! that the writ of error will not be granted.